Coming Home
by neverlandhereicome
Summary: Oneshot. He was coming home from a S-Class mission, covered in dirt and blood, his clothes were ripped and his muscles were sore. His opponent's magic was nothing he expected it to be. The pictures from his past would haunt him at night, he already knew that much. But knowing that his girl was waiting for him at home made him smile. A lot of fluff :)


_Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or any of its characters. The awesome Hiro Mashima does._

* * *

He was coming home from a S-Class mission, covered in dirt and blood, his clothes were ripped and his muscles were sore and aching. He was drained – mentally and physically. His body would get over it, that he was sure of, but the pictures in his head would haunt him for weeks. He already knew that much. He expected the mission to be not a piece of cake, but he didn't figure on his opponent playing mental games. He was tough; he could deal with physical pain. But this, he didn't expect this. He didn't expect someone bringing back the worst memory of his life. He relived it in countless nightmares before, he scold himself for what he'd done every time he lost himself in his own thoughts over and over again until a little bluenette showed him what forgiveness was. He would never understand her kindness and he knew that he'd never be able to repay her for that, since what she'd done for him was more than generosity. She had not only forgiven him, no she had somehow fallen in love with him. From all the man the little beauty could fall in love with and obviously have her affection returned, since she was fucking adorable, she chose him amongst all. This he would never understand. He would not understand how he could ever be so lucky. He fucked up his karma many years ago so he would never say he deserved any of it, but somehow he got it. Somehow the little bluenette broke down all the iron walls he spend years on building around him and touched his unshielded heart. He knew that he didn't deserve her, but he couldn't stay away from her either. He vowed to love her until the end and protect her with his life when he made her his one and only, when he made her his mate. The thought of her waiting for him at home made him smile as he limped down the streets of Magnolia.

It was late at night when he finally reached their house. He opened the door quietly and entered his home. It smelled like wood, flowers and fresh homemade cookies. He grinned at the thought of Levy's homemade cookies as he kicked off his boots and took off his heavy coat. Careful, trying not to make too much noise, he made his way to their bedroom. As he opened the door the sight that awaited him made his heart skip a beat. His little girl was laying on their king-sized bed, looking even smaller on the massive wooden furniture, dressed in a beige silk nightdress, curled up with a few books beside her and the black cat pressed gently against her chest. He admired his view for a while, until he limped to the bathroom in order to clean the major wounds quickly and take care of the rest the next morning.

As he shut the door the little girl awoke from her sleep. She blinked and rubbed her eyes; when she saw the dimmed lightening in the bathroom.

"Gajeel," she whispered relieved and put the little black ball of fur cautious under the blanket. Next she toddled towards the bath. She opened the door quietly and saw him standing in front of the sink with a few towels that were stained with blood.

"Gajeel," she called his name tender and caring. He looked up from his wounded arm and faced her loving, green eyes.

"Shrimp," he smirked as he lifted her up in embrace. "I missed ya," he gasped as he buried his face in her hair.

"I was worried about you," she muttered in his chest.

"Ya didn't have to," he spoke as he gently caressed her cheek.

"You are hurt," she stated and started to examine his injuries. She sighted as she determined the severity of them and set out to clean and treat them carefully. He watched her as she silently applied different healing ointments, disinfecting liquids and bandages on his wounded body. Her concentrated face was just too adorable and it also kept him distracted from the unpleasant pain he felt from the disinfecting serum. When she was done, she cleansed her hands and stowed away the medicine back into her XXL First Aid Kid.

"Are you hungry? I can warm up dinner for you," she offered.

"Thank you shrimp, but I rather go to bed with you," he said with a grin on his face as he lifted her up and carried her to the bedroom. He laid her gently under the blanked and followed, careful not to tear up one of his bandaged wounds. The man wrapped his unhurt arm around her and she laid her head on his shoulder, caressing his face with her tiny hands. He stroked her hair absent-minded.

"Good to be home," he mumbled in her hair as he drifted off.

"Good to have you back," she sighted half asleep.

* * *

He was dreaming. He knew it was a dream, but he also knew that it once was reality. She was hanging there, crucified to the tree, her clothes ripped and her tiny, fragile body bleeding. She gave a wince of pain when he touched her flat stomach and marked her with his guild symbol. And when she looked him on the eyes eyes. Her big, green eyes were staring at his, having him entirely under their control, not letting him look away. Her eyes were feisty, but they were not filled with hatred he was all too used seeing on jobs like this. They were just there, looking at him questioningly, making him slowly realize what he had done. And suddenly he felt something, something unpleasant that made his heart ache in an odd way. He didn't like the feeling at all. He felt something he hadn't felt for a long time now. It was shame. He growled in dislike of the nasty feeling that spread inside of him. He felt anger; anger that someone could make him feel like that. He managed to cut the eye contact with the girl in front of him and then he left, feeling her gaze on his back.

"Gajeel… honey are you alright?" the bluenette asked the man who was tossing and turning as he groaned in pain. "Gajeel it's just a nightmare wake up, honey wake up," she spoke to him as she soothingly rubbed his back. He was slowly waking up, realizing where he was as he viewed the girl who was bending over him.

"Honey, it was just a nightmare, it was not real," she repeated herself reassuring.

"No it was real," he said with a husky voice as he exhaled deeply. As she looked at him with a questioning look he cleared his throat.

"I had an opponent with weird magic goin' on," he explained to her thinking back. She looked at him concerned.

"What magic did he use?" she asked worriedly.

"He made me remember shit, more like see it over and over again," he grumbled as he contorted his face.

"Memory-Relive-Magic," she whispered to herself as her brain collected everything she ever read about this kind of magic. She looked up at him, figuring what he was reliving in his fight, knowing from the look on his face that her guess was right.

"Was it…," she was searching for his eyes, seeking for words.

"Yeah," he groaned.

She nodded her head understanding. He looked up at her anguished, not knowing what to say next.

"Thank you for being who you are right now," she said as she looked at him with a sincere smile on her face. He swallowed, trying to process the words she just said to him as he looked at her in astonishment. "Thank you for protecting me from Laxus, saving my life on Tenrou Island, thank you for making me big, thank you for always keeping an eye on me during the Grand Magic Games and always protecting me and-" he interrupted her with his lips that he pressed on hers. She kissed him back, understanding every emotion he tried to show her through his kiss. As their lips finally parted, he said: "Thank you for never leaving my side shrimp."


End file.
